Thoughts. For. A. New. Year.
Happy New Year! Yes, I realize I'm approximately 5 days behind, but that's what happens when life moves at 110 mph and you don't take the time to sit and think. I apologize to my readers for not posting more lately. That will change with the New Year. I don't usually believe in the "new years resolution" business because a lot of times it's just another way to fail... and quite frankly I fail enough as it is. The difference though, is most of my failures come with joy.. stick with me here.
James.1.2-4.
Imagine that, first post of the 2012 and I'm talking about James 1:2-4. *shock*. I have been thinking about this idea of sin, grace, righteousness, life, being a child of God, failure, the Enemy attacking, etc. I know, that's a lot to think about, hence why this needed to finally be written. The first thing I want to touch on though is a new outlook on that verse. I was thinking about James the other day, and read it a little differently. In the past, I have always looked at the verse as meaning that we go through bad times to prepare us, and God will do something joyous in the future to counteract that trial. Which, in all reality, I still think is very true. Peep this though, what if we looked at it from the perspective of having JOY in our TRIALS because our trials show us we are probably doing some RIGHT. Here's what I mean... When I feel the Enemy attacking me, whether it be through a painful memory, a bad relationship/friendship, physical pain, confusion, disdain... whatever, it means I must be doing something right. If I am living my life for Christ that is. If I wake up every morning, and try to stay focused on being an Ephesians 5:1 kind of man, Satan is going to attack me. The Enemy doesn't want God's army to grow bigger and stronger. So Satan uses my weaknesses, my moments of doubts, my fears to tear me down and become distant from Christ. So when I feel him attacking, I find it's much easier to look at Christ and say "I know you are there, so let Satan attack me. He can't hurt me with you by my side. He can't hurt me if I trust in YOU. and He is attacking me because I am living my life for YOU". I find joy in doing things to piss off Satan, because when I am making him insanely mad, I know I am making CHRIST insanely happy. There is no greater joy than that right there.
If. Grace. Was. An. Ocean.
I love Crowder's song "How He Loves Us", it has always moved me (I'm listening to it now). My favorite line "If Grace is an ocean, then we're all sinking". Wow. You know what's awesome about that line? It is so, absolutely, 100% TRUE. I look at it this way. We can't earn grace, we've heard that a thousand times. Grace is FREE. Which is what makes it grace. We are completely unworthy of it, yet it's always there. We can try to run and hide from Christ, but grace still surrounds us. You know what's funny? Even if we tried to earn grace... we couldn't. We don't deserve it, we constantly fall short of the glory of God, we constantly fall and fail to pursue Christ, to live like Christ, to move like Christ. YET, grace is given to us, free of charge. I have spent a very long time trying to wrap my head around that. It wasn't until recently that I started to fully comprehend it. The idea of Grace still throws me for a loop sometimes. I realized though, if I wake up every morning and recognize the beauty of that grace, my day will be so much better. If I wake up and say "okay Christ, I am ready to live today for you.. I am going to strive to be more like you" but also realize that I'm going to fall short, I will have a wonderful day because I will be so much more thankful for grace if I am realistic about my human abilities. I can't be perfect, I never have been and I never will be. And if I stop expecting perfection from myself, I can truly start to love myself the way God wants me too...
One.Last.Thing.
I want to talk about that idea of love for a second. I don't mean romantic love, I mean relational love. There is a difference. My heart has been bursting these last few weeks with love for so many different people from all walks of life. I am so thankful for those people, and my goal for 2012 is to make sure that they know on a regular basis that I love them. There is one life in particular that my love has just been overflowing for. He's a 2 1/2 month old little boy from Ethiopia. His name is going to be Elijah Gideon Eatherly, and he is the most precious nephew anyone could ask for up to this point. I love Elijah more than he will ever understand, more than even I fully understand. Each time he crosses my mind all the heaviness that has filled my heart for that day is lifted, if only for a second, and I know that when he comes home, my days will be brighter. I am so thankful for his parents, and for the role they are allowing me to play in his life...
Happy New Year to all. I love you.
GRACE and Peace,
B
No comments:
Post a Comment